Bill Clinton made $75M for speeches

In the 10 years since leaving the White House, former President Bill Clinton has earned more than $75 million in speaking fees alone, including nearly $11 million last year, a report Tuesday found.

Clinton earned $10.7 million for 52 speaking engagements in 2010, bringing his total earnings on paid speeches to $75.6 million in the last decade, according to an analysis of financial disclosure reports filed by his wife, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her current job and during her years representing New York in the Senate.

Story Continued Below

But that’s not all the former president has raked in since leaving office. He also earned a $15 million advance for his 2004 memoir “My Life” and has more than doubled that in earnings from the sales of that book and a subsequent one.

The former president’s 2010 speaking haul was his largest annual intake from such fees, edging out the $10.2 million he earned in 2006 for 57 paid speeches, CNN found. In 2009, Clinton delivered 36 paid speeches that brought in $7.5 million.

Almost half of what Clinton earned in 2010 — $4.8 million — came from speeches he delivered in 13 countries outside the United States including India, Mexico and South Africa. His domestic speeches were in 8 states and in Washington.

In the decade since leaving office, Clinton has in all delivered 417 paid speeches, with fees working out to an average of $181,000 per speech. International engagements pay better than domestic ones, with $44.9 million of his earnings coming from 215 overseas speeches.

“I never had any money until I got out of the White House, you know, but I’ve done reasonably well since then,” Hillary Clinton said last year. She earned more than $10 million for her memoir, “Living History.”

In contrast, Clinton’s successor, former President George W. Bush has earned at least $15 million on about 140 paid speaking engagements since leaving the White House in early 2009, an analysis this spring found.

Before leaving office, Bush joked that he hoped to “replenish the ol’ coffers” by drawing “ridiculous” fees on the speaking circuit.